If only
by Demoneyes 14
Summary: A whatif fic. What would happen if Sakura jumped in the way when Sasuke was about to be bitten? What would life be like then?


What if Orochimaru disguised himself as Sakura instead of Naruto? What if she jumped in the way at the last second, forcing Orochimaru to bite her instead? How will the ever-guilty Sasuke feel about this? Just twisting the story 'round a bit. Please no flames!

**Chapter 1: Illusion**

**_Ninki_**

_**We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate.**_

Sakura recited this poem without hesitation. Despite this, her eyebrows were knitted in worry. Naruto was still missing…

"There you guys are!"

…maybe not… but that still didn't mean that Naruto was an imposter…

"Not so fast, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, holding a kunai up in defense. "Say the password!"

Naruto scowled at him, his eyes squeezed shut in thought. "Um… uh… 'Ninki'… in… uh…" Naruto yanked at his bright blond hair furiously. "Dammit, Sasuke! Why'd you make that stupid poem so _hard_!"

Sasuke lowered his weapon. Naruto wasn't an imposter? Then who was spying on them… and why? "Alright, Naruto… forget it." he said quietly, shoving his worries aside. Still… something nagged at him…

Why would a mysterious team ambush them and not do anything else? Had they been in the way of somebody else? No… that attack was directed toward them…

His hand immediately went to his holster where he hid the heaven scroll. He let out a sigh of relief. It was still there.

Still… something was not right…

Taking one last glance at Naruto, Sasuke headed away from the clearing and into the trees. They needed to recuperate… and besides, they had been attacked in that very spot twice… there was a good chance that it would happen again. Naruto and Sakura followed quickly, leaving the area where they had just battled behind.

"That had to be the weirdest ambush I've ever seen." Naruto muttered, rubbing his sore cheek. Sakura remained impassive, her eyes glazed over in thought. This strange behavior caught Sasuke's attention.

"You okay, Sakura?" He asked, glancing back at her. "Did that guy hurt you or something?" Sakura shook her head slowly.

"No…" She replied. "I'm okay…" She forced a small smile onto her face to reassure him. Sasuke sighed and turned around. Nothing seemed right now. He couldn't really trust either of his teammates at the moment.

Then it hit him. The weak point in his plan. Sakura! He had completely forgotten about her, ignoring the fact that she herself may be the one to be caught.

He thought that nobody would consider doing something like that to Sakura. He had left her out of it completely.

He was such an idiot!

Still… he needed a way to prove that Sakura was Sakura. There was only one thing he could think of at that moment.

"So…" Sasuke started casually. Naruto cast Sasuke a curious glance, which he immediately averted when he received a cold glare. "How's your friend Ino?"

Sakura raised her head curiously, her long pink hair trailing over her shoulders as she looked up to face him. "Oh, her?" She asked, a weak smile on her face. "She's fine! Nothing new!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. In one swift motion, he had thrown a kunai at Sakura, which she dodged with a shriek. Naruto leapt up to protest.

"Sasuke-bastard!" He cried, sprinting towards him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"You idiot!" Sasuke snarled, glaring at the orange shinobi. "Don't you get it? That's not Sakura!"

Naruto, still doubting his teammates' beliefs, glanced over at the pink-haired kunoichi. She stood there, a small smirk on her lips.

"Very clever!" She giggled. There was a puff of smoke, and in place of Sakura, there was a tall man with long black hair and a traditional Japanese straw hat. On his forehead was the symbol of the grass. Both Sasuke and Naruto recognized him as the one with the overly long tongue that had talked to Anko. He smirked at the two boys as the smoke cleared away. "What gave me away?"

"That doesn't matter!" He snapped. "What did you do with Sakura?" The man smirked at his question.

"Oh! You will mean that pink-haired girl?" He sneered. "She was quite feisty." The man stuck his hand in his robe, pulling out a large lock of pink hair. "She tried to escape from me… but failed."

Both Sasuke and Naruto watched in horror as he let the precious strands of hair fly from his fingers and drift in the breeze towards them. "That poor little girl…"

Sasuke reached out and caught some of the pink strands, at first gently as if fearing that they held Sakura's life in them. His fist then tightened around them in anger. Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded to Naruto.

"Go find her… alive or not, we need to get her back."

Naruto nodded and vanished leaving Sasuke to fight the tall man.

"What have you done with her?" He snarled. The man chuckled.

"Nothing as of yet." He replied. "I couldn't help but find her means of escape enthralling. I mean, sacrificing a part of oneself in means of impressing the great Uchiha Sasuke. How precious…"

The Uchiha prodigy could only glare at the enemy. All he could think of at the moment was how dead this man would be if Sakura was hurt.

She was his responsibility… and he didn't take care of her…

"That girl, Sakura is very fond of you, you know…" He said in an almost taunting tone. "I could see it in her eyes… that look of love that she always seems to carry whenever she looks at you… the way she screamed your name…"

Sasuke could only grimace as the strange man spoke of the young girl. It felt as if each word that came out of his mouth slowly killed the young kunoichi. He hated how intimate he sounded as he said her name.

"You bastard!" He snarled, lunging at the man. The strange figure merely dodged his attack by stepping to the side. Sasuke's Sharingan reacted and as if by instinct, he threw a kunai behind him, piercing the man's arm. Just when Sasuke thought he had the advantage, the grass-nin gave him a small tisk, chastising his movements.

"Now, now… my boy…" He drawled. "You don't want your little Sakura to go through all that again, do you?"

Sasuke froze on the spot. What did he mean by that? Almost as if he had read his mind, the creepy man replied by closing his eyes. He opened them again to reveal piercing, bloodshot orbs. Sasuke found himself lost in their cold depths and soon he felt pain. It was excruciating… horrible! He had never been in such agony in his life! Kunais and shuriken pierced his flesh, ripping at him from every possible angle. The finishing move was a kunai to the forehead, piercing right through his head protector and into his skull.

Reality soon dawned upon him as he fell to his hands and knees, panting heavily. Thank the gods it was just an illusion! Never before had he experienced anything like that… and he didn't want it ever again.

"Feel that?" He asked with a smile. "That is what I did to stop your little friend from getting away. She's probably still in shock right now."

Sasuke glared at the man. Sakura didn't deserve this! What had she done?

Well, for starters, she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. This strange man managed to get a hold of her, and now look at their position!

All he hoped for right now was for Naruto to get to Sakura in time.

& & & & &

"Sakura!"  
Naruto leapt through the trees, searching for his pink-haired friend. "Sakura! Where are you!"

He cursed under his breath. Damn, still no sign of her. Where could she have possibly gone?

Just as he was about to give up hope, a flash of pink caught his eye. Sure enough, when he looked down, he saw the young Haruno lying on the ground.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto leapt down in front of her. He was surprised to see that her eyes were open, however, despite this, she did not respond to Naruto's presence. Her hair had indeed been hacked off… but if what he had heard was right, it was to get away.

She had sacrificed a bit of herself

"Sakura…" He whispered, lifting her into a sitting position. Sakura's hair had indeed been hacked off. Now her hair ended around her neck in an uneven line. Her face was covered in bruises and scratches and her mouth hung slightly agape as if in shock. "Sakura, please wake up! Please be okay!"

Placing his hand in front of her face, he let out the breath he held when he felt warm air escaping her lips. He tried saying her name again, shaking her limp form.

"Sakura!"

To his relief, Sakura's emerald eyes came back into focus. She turned her head to face her blonde companion. "Naruto…?" She whispered. "Wh-what happened? Where'd that man go?"

Now fully alert, Sakura searched for her attacker. A quiet hiss caught her attention. Looking up, Sakura let out a shriek of terror.

"SNAAAKE!"

In one quick movement, Sakura pushed Naruto out of the way of the serpent's strike. Naruto, not wanting Sakura to suffer that fate, pulled her back as well. The massive python raised its head to face them. Unfortunately, their attention was so drawn to the head that they did not see the tail coming in from behind. They didn't have time to react as they were wrapped tightly in the snake's coils and swallowed whole.

Naruto, holding Sakura tightly to him, glanced down at her through the damp darkness.

They needed to get out before they were digested… the problem was how.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried. "Think! What could make the snake barf us up?"

Thoughts lingered back to when they were in the mist village… and the unofficial eating competition between Sasuke and himself.

"Too much is bad for you…" He muttered. An idea soon popped into his head.

"ART OF THE MASS DOPPLEGANGER! SOLID FORM!"

Sure enough, many Naruto doppelgangers appeared around them, forcing the snake to expand. It eventually reached the point that its body could not take and burst, sending the many Narutos and Sakura flying through the air.

The two bloodied shinobi landed quickly, eventually collapsing on the ground, exhausted from the latest events.

"You… alright?" The blonde boy asked, turning to his teammate. Sakura nodded, a weak smile planted on her face.

"Thanks, Naruto… I owe you one…" Naruto chuckled.

"How about ramen?" he suggested in a teasing manner.

"Deal."

Suddenly a thought struck her. "Naruto… where's Sasuke?"

"Fighting the man who attacked you." Naruto said with a grin. "Speaking of which, we should get back there. That idiot might need our help now."

Sakura didn't bother to argue about Sasuke's intelligence. Instead she nodded and the two leapt into the air, returning to the battlefield.

TBC...

Yah... another Naruto fic. big surprise, eh? Anyway, tell me whatcha think!

Review please!


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